Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Bewitching Hour: A Tara Maclay Prequel

Get a slice of the fan favorite, Tara's, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, backstory in this Tara prequel to BtVS.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but it had too much romance for my taste. I love Ashley Poston as a YA romance writer from what I've read by her, but I felt this book should have been less about romance, and more about action, but I'm not sure that's the author's wheelhouse.
I honestly preferred the Spike prequel. I would LOVE to see a Faith prequel by someone like, Jay Kristoff!
My favorite character was Baz, he was sweet and funny and just a character who helped to lighten up an otherwise dark tale. Tara's love interest I didn't like as much, since we didn't get her point of view or a lot of her back story, she just seemed gruff and a bit unlikable.

I hate Tara's family even more after reading this book than I did in the show. Her whole family was awful. Though in the show they seemed more white trashy than a professor and his kids.
Overall, the book was good, but not the best by the author I've read so far.

Extra ratings: Fluff- 1/5 Heartfelt- 4.5/5 Helpful-NA Horror- 0.5/5 Inspiration-NA Love-3.5/5 Mystery- 2/5 Predictablity- 3/5 Spice-0/5 Suspense-1/5 Tear 2.5/5 Thrill-1/5 Humor-1.5/5

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jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A delightful story of Tara Maclay before she comes to UC Sunnydale and joins Willow and the Scoobies on the Hellmouth. Her mother has died eight months before the beginning of this tale, her family relocated from Nebraska to Vermont, and she is the new girl at school. Tara faces her fears, grief, and unexpected magical threats while trying to survive the horrors of high school: bullying, dodgeball and where to sit in the cafeteria.

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kayladaila's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy!

While this book is great, please know that Joss Whedon is a pretty terrible person and will profit off of this book.

The Bewitching Hour is a realistic fantasy novel about teenage Tara Maclay moving to Vermont and starting a new high school rife with murder and mystery. Ashley Poston did a great job with Tara, one of the most beloved Buffy characters. When I saw Poston’s name attached to the project, I knew it was going to be great. You do not have to have seen Buffy to enjoy this book, but there were some really cute nods to the tv series. Ashley Poston also did a great job of including diversity with all the new characters she introduced.

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